Preventing the Summer Slide
Are you a parent wondering about preventing the summer slide for your child but also wanting them to have a fun summer?
If you are like us, somewhere midsummer you start asking yourself where the time is going. Whoever said “The days are long but the years are short” was on to something, right?!
So we love to take advantage of every opportunity we get to soak up summer, because where we are here in Michigan, we always know winter is coming for us! However, as educators, we ALSO know that summer learning loss is a real thing, and we want to prioritize the FUN and the LEARNING.
Tips for Preventing the Summer Slide
Quick story for you today…
My (Katie) dad loves to golf. But my mom historically hasn’t been a golfer. YEARS ago, she decided to give it a go. She put the ball on the tee, hit a great shot, and walked away smiling like she really knew how to crush it!
Then…when they walked up to where her ball was, she put down her tee again and put the ball up onto it, ready to crush it once more!
Yup, my Dad had to explain that you don’t get to use the tee every time. She now had to hit it off the grass. This learning experience really gets us laughing when he tells this story!
How many times do we accidentally expect our kids to just know things when they haven’t yet had an adequate amount of teaching or practice? We’re all guilty of this.
Did you know that according to a recent study, less than a third of U.S. children are proficient writers?
Less than a third! Yikes.
So as teachers and mamas, we’re thinking, let’s just simply provide our kiddos with more opportunities to practice! We’d like to share with you some of our BEST tips for preventing the summer slide in WRITING.
We’ve got ideas for you that provide additional practice opportunities, FUN learning for the kids, and EASY prep for the busy parents!
How to Prevent Summer Slide Learning Loss
So, here’s a few tips to get those kids learning and WRITING this summer!
- Grab this FREE writing paper you can print today for your child to practice on! It includes 12 different paper options – to meet the needs of students at any age level. TOTALLY FREE! Print that off today & encourage your kids to write. Just for FUN. Anything they want. But let’s get them writing.
- Grab these FREE writing prompts to try out together or have them try on their own! We’ve got to make writing FUN in order to entice them to participate, practice more often, & build writing stamina!
- Join our FREE Parent Facebook Group: The Literacy Ladies for Parents of Elementary Kids! It’s an amazing, growing group of parents & educators sharing ideas to help kids learn – completely FREE advice with a fun group of people! All are welcome & you’ll find GREAT ideas for preventing the summer slide!
- Grab your Free Parent Guide with Our 9 Steps to Keep Your Kids Busy & Learning! These are PERFECT for preventing the summer slide & giving you ideas for summer learning activity fun! Additionally, this guide will even set you up for a successful school year with tips like how to set up an at-home learning space for doing homework & which learning shows to let them watch while you cook dinner! Did we mention it’s FREE?!
- Try out a FUN writing instruction video from The Literacy Camp! Just sit those elementary kiddos in front of this SUPER FUN & ENGAGING WRITING LESSON VIDEO! Seriously, next time you need to keep the kiddos busy for about 22 minutes – just throw some paper & writing utensils in front of them & let the video work it’s magic! (And YES – we DID just give you one of the Virtual Literacy Camp videos COMPLETELY FREE!)
That video will get them writing and having FUN writing in NO TIME! Then, when they LOVE it – which obvi – they will LOVE it …
Sign them up for The Literacy Camp at Home experience HERE for more inspiration to keep them writing more than ever before…ALL. SUMMER. LONG!
Preventing the Summer Slide in Reading
Don’t worry, friends, that Literacy Camp at Home Experience is also FULL of reading instruction videos and reading activities for your kiddos to do at home this summer too! Preventing the summer slide in reading has never been easier!
Before we wrap it up here, I’m sure my mom (who reads all of these blog posts because our moms are The Literacy Ladies #1 fans) would like for me to tell you she is now a SWEET golfer.
But it took some practice and some coaching. Let’s provide that to our little writers so they can crush it in school AND life (and maybe even golf someday)!
Happy Writing,
Katie (who also doesn’t know how to golf) & Krista (who rocks a golf swing like it’s her job because would you expect anything less of competitive & athletic Krista?!)
Don’t forget! The Literacy Camp at Home Experience is available for a limited time and runs on a customizable, flexible schedule! Sign up for Virtual Literacy Camp HERE! You won’t want your kids to miss it!